Kingsport church to host teleconference on leadership

KINGSPORT — First Broad Street United Methodist Church is giving you the opportunity to participate in an international leadership conference without leaving town.

The event, called the Global Leadership Summit, aims to provide “world-class leadership training” to people from all walks of life, and registration is open now.

“People attend this conference not just because they’re a church leader,” said Russ Brogden, one of the coordinators of the conference at First Broad Street. “They’re a leader in all walks of life, but the conference is Christ-centered.”

The two-day conference will take place live at Willow Creek Church in the Chicago area. It will be broadcast to more than 600 locations around the world, including First Broad Street.

Nathan Flora, First Broad Street’s executive director, said the church is the conference’s only host site in the Tri-Cities.

“One of the things that’s striking to me is having the kind of intimate communication access from some of these leaders that are very effective around the world,” Flora said. “You can’t just get that type of teaching easily, and this is a nice venue for that.”

The event will be held Aug. 9-10 from 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. and 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., respectively. In addition to the conference, Brogden said the church will have onsite facilitation to make the event more interactive.

Participants should register online before the conference at www.fbsumc.org/global-leadership-conference. Registration fees, which do not include lunch, can be viewed at www.willowcreek.com/events/leadership.

The Rev. Harrison Bell, lead pastor of Wheeler United Methodist Church in Blountville, said his church chose to partner with First Broad Street for the event because of the quality training it provides.

“I think it improves your ability to influence others and ideally to influence them in a positive way,” Bell said. “Personally, it’s impacted how I give leadership to churches that I’m part of the leadership of and allows me to express myself better. It gives me insights into how I need to lead myself, as well as lead others.”